Pages

Monday, March 5, 2012

Where Are All the Latino Homeschoolers?

I know you're out there. You have emailed me, tweeted me, messaged me on Facebook. When I first started homeschooling, I couldn't hardly find any Latino/a homeschoolers online. But today, that is changing. I know more and more of you have chosen to take your children's education into your own hands and that many of you are starting to write about your experience.

I want to know numbers. To give encouragement to other Latino families who are considering homeschooling. To show publishers and other education companies that they need to be thinking about us when they are creating their education materials. To show publishers that they need to create Spanish and bilingual curricula to help bilingual families successfully raise bilingual children without having to sacrifice academic achievement.

Oy! No links yet :( I'm homeschooling my bilingual boy and am totally frustrated with not being able to find more spanish/bilingual homeschool materials. I'll be checking in for updates soon - hopefully I'll find many more latina homeschool mamas out there!

It is frustrating. There are materials, but they are hard to find and often require piecing together to create a complete curriculum. That's why it is so important for us to show our numbers to the companies producing the materials. Thanks, zebaby!

I'm not homeschooling yet but I am seriously considering it for the upcoming school year. I'm trying to see if I can make it work financially and logistically. I am disappointed that I haven't found a Latino homeschool group in my area. I live in L.A. County, which has a very high high latino population so you'd think there would be SOME latino homeschoolers but I've not had much luck finding any. Most of the homeschoolers in my area seem to be caucasian and very high income earners. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd like my children to be friends with all types of people but I'd also like them to have some homeschooling friends like themselves too. I'll keep looking:)

So happy to see you guys connecting here. Nancy, we do not have any Latino families homeschooling in my area (that I am aware of), and even though we love our non-Latino homeschooling friends here, I completely understand the way you feel. I wish there was at least one Latino family who my kids could connect with through homeschooling.

Wow, Nancy (above) took the words out of my mouth. Actually if you read this Nancy, I'd love to connect with you! My email is bsalcedo562@aol.com. My daughter is to begin kindergarten in September at a dual immersion program if she gets accepted, but I would love to homeschool her instead of being in a classroom with a ratio of 30 students to one teacher. The problem is that I fear she will lose her awesome spanish fluency, as we have only spoken in Spanish to her since birth and that is our language that we use with eachother. I also love how close her and my 3 year old son are and I'm afraid that by separating them for so long they wil lose that connection. I wish there was a magical bilingual curriculum for bilingual homeschoolers that would work towards being bilingual by 4th or 5th grade such as a dual immersion program.

Hi. I just wanted to comment that if it possible I would homeschool. Spanish was my fist language but when I started going to preschool and was surronded by English speakers I told my mom I wasn't going to speak spanish anymore. I didn't. I regret it everyday. Now I am struggling to relearn it and teach my kids. I'm also out here in the Inland Empire originally from La.

Amber, even if you aren't an active homeschooler, there are so many ways for parents to get involved in their children's education. We can supplement their school studies with books, activities, and materials at home to reinforce what they are learning in school. Thank you for sharing your own thoughts on this thread, and showing that regardless of how our children are formally taught, they are all "homeschooled."

Blanca, for some reason Blogger is not letting me reply to your comment above, but I want to thank you for speaking up and reaching out to Nancy. I can't tell you how badly I wish we had a dual immersion school nearby. My kids would so be in it! We struggle day by day for them to learn and retain Spanish. I'm glad, though, to homeschool and be able to teach them on a routine basis with guidance since we do not speak it at home. Best of luck to you on your decision this coming school year. We're here to help no matter which direction you go.

Hi all. My wife, who is Colombian, and I homeschool our children (two boys ages 6 and 3). She of course is the main maestra due to me working. She started homeschooling our 6 year old last year through Christian Liberty. It has been a real struggle for her due to her not being as fluent in english as she would like to be, but she does it with a lot of hard work, research and sometimes tears. In reality, she is learning right along with the kids. For the Spanish portion of learning, my wife relies on an abundance of material mainly from youtube and home made flash cards. Our 6 year old is fluent in Spanish and our 3 year old is getting there.I know she would love to have some spanish speaking mothers who homeschool to connect with or find blogs or communities but have not been able to find any sites for the oportunity... until today as I had just found this blog. If any of you would like to speak with her (in spanish of course) you can contact her at sharonceciliam@comcast.net. I am sure she would love any and all help and support. By the way, her name is Cecy.Thanks all!!Sincerely,Chuck

Yeah, I can contribute something here! We are homeschooling in CT. We are bilingual. My husband speaks Spanish with the boys and I speak English, but teach the Spanish to them along with my husband. Wonderful website, we have the BrainPOP jr edition for our 5 and 7 year old and I got the Spanish version for myself and my husband, for now. It is geared for older kids.http://esp.brainpop.com/

Also an app that my boys love. Mindsnacks in Spanish. It is really great. Any body out there from CT who is speaking Spanish with their children and Homeschooling?

I am a latina homeschooler. There are some really great curriculum in Spanish out there. My son is 5 and in first grade and we use rod and staff for math and spanish. Both the math and the spanish are completely in spanish, they come with easy readers, and flash cards etc. I am completely happy with the program. The phonics is amazing. Also Scholastic has elementary grade magazines thats called Lets find out in Spanish, with a ton of games and sight words on the online version. also my kids love their game called Pipo Digital. It is like reader rabbit but in spanish. It teaches them to read, to type, and sound out words with lots of great phonics. It is a little pricey as in 35 dollars. But It was worth it, you can make print off worksheets also, they have other games that go all the way to eight grade. Trust me it is worth the price. Also my husbands family is from Mexico, so we have them send us their old textbooks. My kids have a penpal from Peru. You can go to compassion international and sign up just as a penpal. We are on a very tight one income budget so hopefully one day we can sponsor. But they are dying for people to write the kids that big business sponor because they want all the kids to have a person who encourages them, and is involved in their life. You guys can always facebook me at Shammah.garciadelasse@facebook.com. I am a latina as in from Haiti latina but I learned spanish fluently when I met my husband. And to me it was important that my kids not only speak but read and write. Also on teachers pay teachers website they do have some free spanish worksheets. Please message me who you are and a little bit about you. As I don't allow just anyone to friend me and my family. Thanks

I am a Latina homeschooling mom! I'm so happy to have found this site. I thought I was the only Latins home schooler in this world lol! I have graduated one and he is now 19 and in college, we are so proud! I also have two younger children who I am homeschooling and really wish I could find others like us as well. What I could really use is curriculum to teach them about their own culture and history.I currently have the piece together things to teach them about our heritage and I've always wished I could just order something that had everything we needed in one curriculum.

We are here! So excited to find this blog. Like all demographics in relation to Hispanics/Latinos, we should never be taken for granted. We are here, we have a voice, and we homeschool. Blessings to all. Bendiciones a todos

Hello, I'm a homeschooling mama too! I know a lot of homeschooling families through our church here in central Florida, but none are latinos. I even go to conventions in my area and I would be lucky to find one other family so the percentages are small. Even among family members, I'm the only one homeschooling my boys. So glad to have found this page!

Hello!!! Do you have a directory of Latino's who homeschool in the city of MONTGOMERY ALABAMA?! I've started a minority homeschool group and know some Latino moms who I would like to connect with other moms. THANKS in advance!!